Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

[vittorio]

Hey remember what happened last time someone did that?


Cheapest doesn't mean best. But instinct from what I've seen is 100 times better than hwfly

picofly firmware is better

 

[eseldiem]

picofly firmware is better

Could you expand on that a bit? (Edited: because clearly you have to have some insider knowledge to make such claim)

 

[Gambito]

double mosfet working...

 

[vittorio]

Could you expand on that a bit? (Edited: because clearly you have to have some insider knowledge to make such claim)

glich times are better, with rgb led it is easier to find problems and the management of each emmc is better on picofly,
for example the emm sandisk i think it works on instinct but it is handled badly

Post automatically merged: Apr 19, 2023

picofly can be updated from toolbox , currently instinct no

 

[eseldiem]

glich times are better, with rgb led it is easier to find problems and the management of each emmc is better on picofly,
for example the emm sandisk i think it works on instinct but it is handled badly

Hm, that seems mostly subjective.

I’d say glitch times are about the same, the led is in my opinion matter of preference (e.g. I was always unsure about some of the colors on hwfly).

No idea about the SanDisk issue. I thought the only emmc brands used are Samsung, Toshiba (kioxia) and skhynix. With Toshiba being the problem child. But I’m no installer and have seen only a few tens of switches.

What I’m still not sure about with picofly is the “running a 1v8 device from a 3v3 line”. Yes, rehius mentioned some hack that makes it work… but I wonder about the impact on the longevity of the devices. Because frankly the firmware source isn’t known, we don’t know the trick used (to soothe the concerns), and picofly hasn’t been around long enough to truly vet this (long term).

 

[vittorio]

Hm, that seems mostly subjective.

I’d say glitch times are about the same, the led is in my opinion matter of preference (e.g. I was always unsure about some of the colors on hwfly).

No idea about the SanDisk issue. I thought the only emmc brands used are Samsung, Toshiba (kioxia) and skhynix. With Toshiba being the problem child. But I’m no installer and have seen only a few tens of switches.

What I’m still not sure about with picofly is the “running a 1v8 device from a 3v3 line”. Yes, rehius mentioned some hack that makes it work… but I wonder about the impact on the longevity of the devices. Because frankly the firmware source isn’t known, we don’t know the trick used (to soothe the concerns), and picofly hasn’t been around long enough to truly vet this (long term).

do you think the rp2040 doesn't last long?

Post automatically merged: Apr 19, 2023

rp2040 work on 3v but emmc work on 1.8

 

[haipro287]

I checked it and soldered it again 6 times, I changed the chip and the same thing, the 16.0.2 update does not affect the operation of the chips right?

View attachment 365750

I faced the same problem yesterday, tried to re-soldering many times but got the same yellow light, and then I click reset button on my rp 2040 one, and tada it glitch normally again. you can try if you want.

 

[eseldiem]

do you think the rp2040 doesn't last long?

Post automatically merged: Apr 19, 2023

rp2040 work on 3v but emmc work on 1.8

I’m not worried about rp2040 not lasting long.

I’m worried about the effect of using 3v3 device (rp2040) to drive lines that are designed for 1v8 (the lines connecting the emmc and the apu). Maybe the hack that allows this is long term safe. And maybe it isn’t.

No way to tell right now, short of reversing the firmware, figuring out how it’s done, and then maybe asking some guru about the findings.

In any case, the fpgas (all of them) use 1v8 on the i/o bank for emmc. So that concern isn’t present there.

 

[FreeLander]

View attachment 364655
This was the original plan, but it could be I cut something important. More info soon once I find at least two free hours

Been Looking for this. Thank you! I just want to confirm because I could not pin it out on the diagram. Is this how I should solder the dat0 47 resistor in place of that transistor?

 

[rehius]

I’m worried about the effect of using 3v3 device (rp2040) to drive lines that are designed for 1v8 (the lines connecting the emmc and the apu). Maybe the hack that allows this is long term safe. And maybe it isn’t.

CMD and D0 lines are driven in open-drain manner, so no overvoltage at all

however CLK line is driven 3v3 with 2mA current limit. I don't know any case where that happened to be an issue

Post automatically merged: Apr 19, 2023

Been Looking for this. Thank you! I just want to confirm because I could not pin it out on the diagram. Is this how I should solder the dat0 47 resistor in place of that transistor?

Top left leg. Check my soldering example on page 78

Post automatically merged: Apr 19, 2023

picofly can be updated from toolbox , currently instinct no

instinct is just another clone of the TX solution that uses the same spacecraft-like code. moreover, afaik, it does not support Erista

picofly has its own algorithms to speedup the boot. however if the same algorithms would be ported onto FPGA solution, that could be the best solution. rp2040 has its own limitations

 

[vittorio]

CMD and D0 lines are driven in open-drain manner, so no overvoltage at all

however CLK line is driven 3v3 with 2mA current limit. I don't know any case where that happened to be an issue

Post automatically merged: Apr 19, 2023

Top left leg. Check my soldering example on page 78

Post automatically merged: Apr 19, 2023

instinct is just another clone of the TX solution that uses the same spacecraft-like code. moreover, afaik, it does not support Erista

picofly has its own algorithms to speedup the boot. however if the same algorithms would be ported onto FPGA solution, that could be the best solution. rp2040 has its own limitations

what limits does rp2040 have?

 

[rehius]

what limits does rp2040 have?

FPGA can latch the signal value by the clock edge, rp2040 has to sniff the line in a software way. As already said, 3v3 / 1v8 issue (could be resolved by custom boards with level shifters)

I click reset button on my rp 2040 one, and tada it glitch normally again

could you please share hekate eMMC and DRAM information? soldering photos also may help. I still don't know the reason of that remaining issue

 

[Willxiam]

HI, anyone have tried use this pcb for the magic, have wifi

 

[vittorio]

FPGA can latch the signal value by the clock edge, rp2040 has to sniff the line in a software way. As already said, 3v3 / 1v8 issue (could be resolved by custom boards with level shifters)


could you please share hekate eMMC and DRAM information? soldering photos also may help. I still don't know the reason of that remaining issue

but rp2040 is the one that consumes less energy

 

[SkylerTakashi]

Will this work? RP Pico 2040

 

[rehius]

HI, anyone have tried use this pcb for the magic, have wifi

you can try, but the wifi could consume power after the glitch

 

[haipro287]

FPGA can latch the signal value by the clock edge, rp2040 has to sniff the line in a software way. As already said, 3v3 / 1v8 issue (could be resolved by custom boards with level shifters)


could you please share hekate eMMC and DRAM information? soldering photos also may help. I still don't know the reason of that remaining issue

I will send its information when I get back home. I have 3 consoles, my v2, my friend's v2 and lite.

My first v2 used hwfly flex cable, and It work like a charm without any problem with firmware 2.5 + unlock.uf2

My friend v2 got an issue which always got cyan led and need to click the reset button after Nintendo logo appear, I've tried 2.5, 2.6 (no led after flash, didn't boot), 2.61, 2.64, 2.64 fixed, 2.65, 2.65_l.

My lite can boot successfully in the first tried and after I reinstalled the plastic case, left joy-con didn't work, reopened it and realized that yellow flex cable has broken ( at that time, I tried to boot it, and yellow led appeared. Checked and tried resoldering the wire but it didn't work. I thought that the problem might come from rp2040, so changed to another rp2040 but still got yellow led until clicked the reset button on rp2040. It worked normally after that.

And any more information I can give you to analyze the cyan-led error on my friend v2?

 

[rehius]

Will this work? RP Pico 2040

yes, need to cut it to fit inside

Post automatically merged: Apr 19, 2023

And any more information I can give you to analyze the cyan-led error on my friend v2?

same, eMMC / DRAM hekate information + soldering photos

 

[SkylerTakashi]

Will these wires be sufficient for soldering? 24AWG tin plated wires

 

[deeps]

Will these wires be sufficient for soldering? 24AWG tin plated wires

they are too big.